Are there celebrities and films that you've gotten into heated arguments about? Are you an avid fan of someone so much that you're willing to verbally abuse anyone who disagrees with your opinion?

Are there some films that should be recognized as genius and no one should argue about?

Is there a film or an actor that every one seems to just love that you just don't get?

I was thinking the other day about backlash. Every time there's something popular, there's a backlash. Anti-Ricki-Martin. Anti-Spice Girls. Whenever you search on something in Yahoo! you get two sections: fans and anti.

Do you often take the unpopular point of view just to have something to argue about because you just hate being one of the crowd?

-- Anonymous, July 08, 1999

Answers

My friend Laura and I get into HEATED debates about Cate Blanchett and Gwyneth Paltrow. She's the Cate fan and I'm the Gwyneth fan. I know I am probably the ONLY female Gwyneth fan since every girl alive hates her. They just don't see her as I do. Who wouldn't want to:

1. Have had both Brad Pitt and Ben Affleck and gave them both the boot because they weren't up to par?

2. Be able to snap your fingers and, as her publicist says, "[have] People GIVE Gwyneth things. Gwyneth doesn't buy things."

3. Have the body type that only requires F'ing YOGA instead of hours and hours of Tae-bo.

4. Be able to shop anywhere, anytime for anything.

5. Oh and star in a movie.

Oh, Cate can do the same thing? But does she have an Oscar?

-- Anonymous, July 08, 1999

YOUR'RE GOING DOWN GRRL! "I'M COOL AND I DON'T NEED YOUR PITY" WILL LIVE IN THEATRICAL INFAMY FOREVER!!!!!!!!

-tHe pHaNtOm >:)

-- Anonymous, July 08, 1999

oh god, this is embarrassing, but i love boy groups! 98 degrees, backstreet boys, and n'sync, you say anything bad about them, and ill beat you, ive gotten into many a fights with friends over whos better, my best friend swears its backstreet boys, and puh-leez, everyone knows 98 degrees whoomps on the backstreet boys, but i do love 'em all, and the worst part is im almost 19, and i still swoon when they come on tv, i think im re-living my pre-teen years. im half tempted to buy those horrid "teen bop" ect. mags, but i cant bring myself to take 'em to the checkout stand, its a sad sad cycle, and no, i dont own any of their albumns, yet again, im too embarrassed to buy it, its just vicious, but god, they're soo cute, and now that im older, im closer to their age and i have a better chance then those creepy little 10 yr olds! yay! those girls are going down!!!! im gonna get one of em!! hell yeah! okay, im going to go hide in the corner in shame

-- Anonymous, July 08, 1999

Oh, Katie.

You must run over to the Hissyfit forum and check out the section on create your own teen diary.

It's okay to like them now. When you get to your twenties, you'll be forwarding on those e-mails that say, "You know you turned 20 in 2000 when..." just like we keep getting that remind us that at one point we were all jamming out to "Pour Some Sugar On Me."

-- Anonymous, July 08, 1999

Funny you should mention that, Pamie. My first concert ever, when I was a wee teen, was Def Leppard and Europe at the Starplex in Dallas. I still try to leap to DL's defense when they're lumped in with the other hair-metal bands. Even though *sob* now I know they were just another one in the crowd.

-- Anonymous, July 08, 1999

A friend of mine is a BIG Tom Jones fan (fanatic).
I've never given Tom Jones much more thought other than,"ugh ... Tom Jones"
Then I realized that if I went on and on about how much Tom Jones sucks my friend would go crazy
So ... it might be mean, but every once in a while I'll go on long tirades about exactly how and in what ways Tom Jones sucks just to set him off.
I mean getting all angry because someone doesn't like the singer/actor/etc. that you like is pretty silly, but to get SOOOO worked up over something as inconsequential as Tom Jones is just so beyond the realm of possibilities in my mind that I cant resist.

-- Anonymous, July 08, 1999

This is coming from the guy who just yesterday had a ten minute discussion/argument with me about whether or not Neil Diamond sucks.

And, for the record, "Love on the Rocks" TOTALLY RULES!

-- Anonymous, July 08, 1999

sigh .... fine .... you win
Neil Diamond is a musical genius
"Turn on Your Heartlight" filled my heart with warm fuzzy feelings
The Beatles should reform with Neil playing rhythm guitar
Obviously, I was just displaying my own sorry state of musical taste for implying that Mr. Diamond was anything less than a musical and lyrical behemoth
I only hope that you, Mr. Diamond, Sweet Chariot,
Cherry, Cherry and the Kentucky Woman can bring yourselves to look past my youthful ignorance.

-- Anonymous, July 08, 1999

Jewel. I HATE Jewel. I have been reduced to near-hysteria because someone whose taste I normally respect will not agree with me that she has no talent whatsoever and is akin to a force of evil in our society. My hatred for Jewel has grown beyond all reason, and I can admit that, but it doesn't make me hate her any less.

Oh, and I am a Gwyneth fan as well. I thought I was the only one. I seem to be in the minority in thinking that she is actually a talented actress - much better than the crop of bimbos we usually get from Hollywood.

-- Anonymous, July 08, 1999

Yes, I'm a devil's advocate. Yes, I take take the unpopular view just to upset people. Yes, I am a bit of a snob. My motto is; if its very popular than it probably sucks!! This has served me well.

Of course, we all know what the real problem is. If marketers and ad execs beat it in to your head enough you will buy anything. I say this from personal experience because I've done it. Oh lord, thank you for making me outgrow my youthful ignorance and stupidity!

Arguing about such things I have found to be a waste of time because people have such strong opinions about pop culture. It is kind of like smashing your head into a brick wall.

Yes, I admit Gwyneth Paltrow and Jewel are somewhat talented, but they both still annoy me to death!

God, I feel so dirty. . .

-- Anonymous, July 08, 1999

I'm probably the only person who thought that Good Will Hunting was the most overrated movie of all time. The definitive lame scene in that movie was where Minnie Driver asked how Matt Damon was able to solve such unsolvable math problems: Minnie: Why you so smart?

Matt: Because I am. [insert lame analogy to Beethoven here.

They might as well have inserted the following dialog: Minnie: Why you make this movie?

Matt: I don't know.

If you compare this with the scene in Gattaca where Ethan Hawke's genetically-enhanced brother asks him how Hawke keeps beating him at swimming, that he never saved any strength for the swim back, the fact that Good Will Hunting won for best screenplay in the same year is most lame.

Give me some time to catch my breath, and I'll tell you why I would like to kick Private Ryan in his gotta-be-a-fucking-hero neck.

-- Anonymous, July 08, 1999

Your comment about taking a point of view just to have something to argue about reminded me of one day when I was in college... hanging around the student union killing a long gap of time between classes... when I got into a discussion about U.S. policy regarding China. This became a heated debate that went on for more than an hour. Afterwards my opponent said to me that although he still did not agree with my position, he greatly admired the passion and sincerity with which I defended my point of view and that it was refreshing to debate a topic with someone who felt so strongly. *sigh* I didn't have the heart to tell him that I had just been amusing myself and did not actually believe in my side of the debate; in fact, my views actually were fairly close to his.

Okay... but I would probably argue with Mike if he is going to diss Saving Private Ryan... My father was in the second wave landing craft to hit Utah Beach and survived... the opening sequences of this film vividly portray the kinds of experiences that haunted him for the rest of his life... As for most of the following movie... no, it may not be one of the top ten films of all time but the opening was so intense that anything that followed would suffer in comparison... I think that film honored those who served their country... So if Mike wants to say forget about the saving Pvt Ryan plot, just show the D-day invasion sequences sandwiched between the current day wrappers, okay, I'll agree, it would have the same (if not perhaps even greater) emotional impact... but having said that, the Pvt Ryan part of the film was not bad... that is probably an alien time viewed from the vantage of 1999 America with president sleezeball in the White House...

-- Anonymous, July 08, 1999

Okay, I'm back to diss Saving Private Ryan:

The punk could have saved 4 good men, including Tom Hanks, if he had simply followed his fucking orders, and gone home to take care of his mother. Instead, he decides to play hero, putting the lives of the actual heroes sent to bring him home in danger.

Every troublemaker thinks he's a hero. Hitler thought he was a hero. Everyone thinks Gandhi was a hero, but the current political divisions in India would indicate otherwise. Don't even ask me what I think of Thomas Jefferson.

At the end of the movie, when the older Private asks his wife if he's a good man, there's just no getting away from the real answer: No. It bugs me that the Steven Spielberg Machine grows rich romanticizing a man who has no visible spine.

-- Anonymous, July 08, 1999

Saving Private Ryan: 20 minutes of gut-wrenching photography followed by a realization that I had been screwed by Hollywood... Howard Zinn wrote, "I realized that it was exactly that--I had been taken in. And I disliked the film intensely. I was angry at it because I did not want the suffering of men in war to be used--yes, exploited--in such a way as to revive what should be buried along with all those bodies in Arlington Cemetery: the glory of military heroism." I love the way Howard Zinn pisses people off.

-- Anonymous, July 08, 1999

My problem with Saving Speilbergs' Oscar (which I did enjoy non-the-less I might add) was the fact that it was told as a flash back by someone who could not have possibly known what the story was because he didn't enter the story until the last 30 minutes.
Although it certainly isn't the only thing I disliked about Titanic, the fact that it was a flashback drove me crazy.
There was no way that character could possibly know what happened on other parts of the ship (and certainly what happened in seperate rooms) because she wasn't there
If a filmaker needs a lazy beginning and ending (like unrealistic flashbacks) to jumpstart their script; then maybe they need to work more on writing their script. .... just a pet peeve of mine.

-- Anonymous, July 08, 1999

I never quite understood the genius of Dead Poets Society. Everyone raved about how brilliant it was, and I remember watching it and thinking "This is retarded" throughout the entire film. I honestly don't remember much about the film, but I do remember the lasting impression - complete and total boredom - it left on my life.

Am I the only one who thought Sleepless in Seattle was a complete waste of time and effort?

I've never been too big into the Tiger Beat cover boys - Devon Sawa, Leonardo DiCaprio, Joshua Jackson, James Van Der Beek - but I don't hate them. They're all just a bunch of pretty faces.

I despise Jennifer Love Hewitt. No, I'm not jealous of her. It has nothing to do with her looks. I think she's entirely too fake and perky on her Neutrogena commercials, and I fell asleep in I Know What You Did Last Summer. Buying the soundtrack was the closest I ever got to Can't Hardly Wait simply because she was in it. Her acting is atrocious. We won't even get into her singing career. My eyes tend to stay in a permanent upwardly-rolled position whenever I see or hear about this so-called "talented young performer."

Claire Danes - oh, I could go on for hours about Claire Danes. I hated her stupid TV show, I've hated every stupid movie she's been in, and I wish she'd just move to Austrailia with her stupid cherub-looking boyfriend and quit making movies because they're all stupid. In short - she's stupid.

I do, however, like Rebecca Romijn. My boyfriend has a burning passion for her, and I don't mind it, because she's cool. She's funny, and talented, and even though she's a supermodel, she doesn't act like a damn bimbo. She's just all-around kickass.

I will pledge my undying love for at least the fifth time on this forum for TIM ROBBINS and BEN STILLER.

That is all.

-- Anonymous, July 08, 1999

"There are two kinds of people in this world - those who like Neil Diamond, and those who don't."

Bill Murray as Bob, What About Bob?

I will have to agree with Dave here - Neil is just plain not good.

-- Anonymous, July 08, 1999

Thank You Maggie!
I thought I was all by myself; lost in this world that revolved around The Jazz Singer.


-- Anonymous, July 08, 1999

There are SO many films and celebrities that I just don't get.

Austin Powers. I'm sorry, I'll probably get flamed for that, but I just don't get it. I didn't get the first one, and so probably won't see the new one. Not that I don't have the 14-year-old-boy mentality you need to appreciate a movie like that -- after all, I AM a huge fan of "Beavis & Butthead" as well as "South Park" -- but I just didn't get it. Maybe it's because there's a great deal of satire and subtlety (yeah really!) in B&B and SP that's not in AP; AP's humor is much more hit-you-over-the-head-with-it blatant. I do, however, usually love Mike Myers.

Brad Pitt. Just don't get it. Glad Gwyneth dumped him. (I also like Gwyneth and don't understand why so many women hate her, except for the fact that she's just TOO damn skinny! Love how she's always gushing about her parents.)

You HAD to mention Ethan Hawke, Mike. I was trying to forget how much I hate the sight of his smarmy face, and how I lost all respect for Uma Thurman when she not only had his baby, but married him!

Demi Moore. Yawn.

Sandra Bullock. Couldn't act wet in the shower.

Hootie and the Blowfish, a/k/a Hootie and the Suck Fish.

Supermodels who look as though they have an eating disorder. ESPECIALLY Kate Moss. I still don't understand how someone so homely could become a top model.

There are plenty of people/movies I admire, love, or even adore, but it's so much more fun to hate something, don't you think? (I could go on about them, because I do argue passionately about my loves as well, but this entry's getting a little leggy already.)

Yes, I have played Devil's Advocate on many an occasion, just to get a rise out of people. Not quite to the degree Dave teases his friend about Tom Jones! But there's something delicious about picking a fight, even if -- or especially if -- you don't really give a damn about what you're fighting about!

This entry makes me sound way more like a cynic than like the sap that I truly am...

-- Anonymous, July 08, 1999

(Um, how did my posting above get all in bold type? I don't even know how to do that HTML stuff!)

-- Anonymous, July 08, 1999

Anyone remember when Nicholas Cage would act? He was great before Don Simpson got his greedy hands on him and turned him into the action hero of every summer
While I'm thinking about it, when exactly did Francis Ford Coppola stop directing movies (Godfather, the Conversation, Apocalapse Now) and start directing "flicks" (Peggy Sue Got Married, Jack, etc.)?
Speaking of Peggy Sue... I never got Kathleen Turner
And as far as Winona Ryder, I just dont understand.
I mean she's never been horrible in anything that I can think of (when I say horrible, I mean Kathy Ireland-horrible)but she has never really made a positive impression on me in anything either. I just don't understand how she keeps getting all these roles that should go to ... like actresses or somethin'.
Of course there are plenty of things that I do like too; I think it's just a natural impulse to pick on something that you dislike.
Especially if it's with other people who are sharing their dislikes
It's kinda' of a reaffirmation that these dislikes are normal and that your not some irrational bitter ass.
then agin, maybe I'm just an irrational bitter ass.

-- Anonymous, July 08, 1999

and will Christen Slater please decide if he's Jack Nicholson or Harrison Ford ...

-- Anonymous, July 08, 1999

...Must... Restore... Fonts... </strong>...

*whew!*

-- Anonymous, July 08, 1999

Hey! It didn't work!

-- Anonymous, July 08, 1999

It's not that Dead Poets Society wasn't a work of genius. It was a work of genius... formerly known as One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. They just didn't lobotomize Robin Williams after the suicide.

-- Anonymous, July 08, 1999

oops ... that was me.
I was so excitied that someone else didn't like neil diamond I forgot to close an HTML tag.
sorry

-- Anonymous, July 08, 1999

Mike... yeah, I recognize what you mean about Ryan and about The Ship That Sank using flashbacks where it is logically impossible for the flasher to have seen or known about some of the scenes we see... but I don't worry about that kind of thing unless the film annoys me in some way and then I will use that as evidence against it... but, let's be intellectually honest about it... novelists do that kind of thing all the time... switch points of view all over the place... somebody mentioned One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest... what about Sometimes a Great Notion? Kessey switches p.o.v. constantly (in the novel, that is, not the movie), not just within the page but within the same paragraph... even within a sentence... and it works, fabulously... so if we let novelists do it, why not let somebody make a film where the flashback shows us stuff the character doing the flashing can't know...

-- Anonymous, July 08, 1999

Please. Backstreet Boys are the original wonderful 5 boy group-Nsync and 98 deg. are just bad knockoffs of Backstreet Boys!

-- Anonymous, July 09, 1999

Hey Maggie,

If Claire Danes is so stupid (your words) then how did she get into Yale? She certainly didn't buy her way in. BTW. I haven't seen you in any movies lately

-- Anonymous, July 09, 1999

now j, im a reasonable grrl, but if you diss on my 98 degrees, ill have to beat you, i mean that in a nice way, i mean! for the love of god! have you looked at them?! they're hot! a lot hotter than the stupid old backstreet boys, i mean, they're good and all, but oh baby, i'd do anyone of the 98 degrees boys, okay, except the creepy blonde headed one, before any of the backstreet boys, drew... oh baby, baby oh, wwhhhhooooo... okay, im gonna go think about drew now.. yeah.. ddrreewwwww.. mmerrroowwww

-- Anonymous, July 09, 1999

Under the celebrity death match topic thingy (based on posts): Backstreet Boys vs. N'Sync, Cate vs. Gwyneth, those 98 degree weenies vs. those Five weenies, Claire Danes as Angela from So Called Life vs. Claire Danes as Juliet, Tom Jones vs. Neil Diamond, Jewel vs. Tori Amos.....who else?

-- Anonymous, July 09, 1999

Well, Mr./Ms. --, thank you for bringing up the fact that you haven't seen me in any movies. Neither has anyone else. Wanna know why? Because I'm not starring in any! Oh. There we go. That explains it!

As for my comments on Claire Danes, I never insulted her intelligence. If you want to get out the dictionary and dicatate to me what "stupid" means, fine. The word "stupid" in that particular instance meant that I thought she was a poor excuse for an actress, and that everything she does is ridiculous and overdone. Instead of writing all that, I wrote one simple word: stupid. Hopefully everyone understood what I meant. But noooo.... you've got to go and get all technical with everything.

-- Anonymous, July 09, 1999

I have to agree with Dave on Nicolas, also. I used to be just as devoted to Nicolas as I am to Tim and Ben, but all these scary films about guns and sex and running around and car chases and dying and more sex and guns and dying while having sex and gunning people down while they're running after cars just gets a little mundane after a while. I enjoyed Face/Off. The Rock was good. Turned off Con Air. Refused to see Snake Eyes. Had nightmares about 8MM and I didn't even see the damn thing.

One more gripe - while I enjoyed the Austin Powers sequel, I must say that I was disappointed to see my Timothy playing the President. C'mon, Tim, you're better than that! Make me cry! Stand naked in the shower and look scared! Be pensive! Don't lower yourself to slapstick comedy!

He really needs me as a manager. Move it, Sarandon! I'm in charge now.

-- Anonymous, July 09, 1999

It's OK, Maggie. We all understood. It's just that -- missed the point somewhat.

For the record,Gwyneth is overrated and really needs to start eating a bit more (did anyone see her in Great Expectations? When she was lying on the bed being painted it was like somebody had laid a dead old mannequin out or something.), and Shakespeare in Love was a very ordinary film, whereas Elizabeth was entirely superior (and Cate seems very cool), although historically a load of tripe.

Saving Private Ryan was over-Americanised and sappy, but still very good (just ignore the 'Private Ryan as an old man' bits).

I haven't seen either Austin Powers films, because they look like complete rubbish, and because Mike Myers is one of the more hideous men on earth, so I'd not welcome the opportunity to have to look at him for an hour and a half at a time.

Leonardo looks like some scary overgrown baby, and if he's sexy then I'm a bloody supermodel.

Speaking of supermodels - who called Kate Moss homely? I think she has a lovely face, and yes, she's tiny, but she's also very short - when you look at her she's just a tiny girl all round, not some stretched out Jodie Kidd freak.

At the end of the day, James Bond films are still the best. ITV in England is showing them all in sequence at the moment - brilliant. Live and Let Die was on the other day - 'Names is for Gravestones, Honkey!'

-- Anonymous, July 09, 1999

I think that Twin Peaks was the best television program that ever in the history of television was aired! Yes, that's right, I do. I know it's been years but I am still a "Peak Freak". Fire Walk With Me was my most favorite film and it continues to be. I have only met one other person who understands/enjoys/genuinely respects this film. All I get from people is teasing and jokes. I suppose that is because of how passionate I am about it and how knowledged I am. People sometimes make a statement I know to be false and then I can argue points for hours!!! And yes, it all makes sense to me.

All the actors/actresses from TP are my favorite, except for Heather Graham and Madchen Amick. They just plain can't act. I think it's a shame Sheryl Lee didn't get far in mainstream films, I think she's excellent, and I know her show LA Doctors isn't lasting on television long. Lara Flynn Boyle and Sherilyn Fenn have also made some good names for themselves through TP. And, *sigh, drool* there's always Kyle MacLaughlin, though I dont' think I spelled his name right. Anyway.....moral of the story.....Twin Peaks kicks ass!!!!

And Kevin Bacon DOESN'T!!!!!!!!!! I don't know WHAT exactly it is about him but seeing Kevin Bacon on a television/movie screen just makes me shiver. I cannot stand this mans voice, his appearance, his hair, his little pig nose, or anything else about him. I still watch his movies, c'mon now, how can I NOT watch Footloose yanno?! But he just annoys me to no end. Uck!

Oh, COUNTESSA, just a sidenote *wink* Tori Amos would kick Jewel's ass all over the F*@#$ing place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (They're not even actresses so I don't know how they got involved in this forum, but I am a die hard Ear-With-Feet so yanno, Tori all the way maaaaan....)

-- Anonymous, July 09, 1999

Hey! I was married to Kevin Bacon, so you'd best be backin' off. Or I'll take you to our farm in Connecticut and feed you to the horses.

I'm glad someone else could not see the big deal about Sleepless In Seattle. What a dumb movie.

-- Anonymous, July 09, 1999

Hey! I was married to Kevin Bacon, so you'd best be backin' off. Or I'll take you to our farm in Connecticut and feed you to the horses.

I'm glad someone else could not see the big deal about Sleepless In Seattle. What a dumb movie.

P.S. Pamie, are you wondering when the backlash against you is going to start? :)

-- Anonymous, July 09, 1999

Hey, Jackie, that was I who called Kate Moss homely, and I will defend that notion with my dying breath! I think she looks pinched and drawn, like she's been very ill for a very long time. It's her face I find unattractive, although looking at her body makes me want to force-feed her -- and I don't care if she's short, tall, or whatever; it's irrelevant. And when they put that shiny sort of makeup on her she looks even more like a strung-out junkie.

BUT -- dear Jackie, you are, of course, welcome to your opinion! :) This wasn't intended as a flame, just an expounding [is that a word?] of the thought expressed earlier. Usually I appreciate and even agree with what you say (except for the James Bond thing: another phenomenon I just don't get) -- however, today I must beg to differ, and, to trot out a tired clichi, we can just agree to disagree!

Toodles!

-- Anonymous, July 09, 1999

My number 1 favorite movie is "Midnight Express". No body I know has ever seen this movie so I have yet to argue about it. Cindy Crawford and Ricky Martin are gorgeous people and I love to watch them but as soon as either one starts to speak my eyes roll back in my head, my tongue flops out , and I lose conscienceness. These two are way too full of themselves and they grate on my very last nerve.

-- Anonymous, July 09, 1999

That's OK ... I can handle a little disagreement ... I'm a mature and balanced individual.

(but you're crazy to not like James Bond!! There, that's off my chest now).

Still, you very kindly told me that you usually agree with me, so that makes me feel fab!

Does anybody ever have frequent celebrity sightings? I never do, despite the fact that London is supposed to be crawling with famous people. The best I can offer is seeing Simon Le Bon (you know, ex Duran Duran lead singer) in our local, wearing a hideous powder-blue leather jacket with puffy sleeves, accompanied by his Mrs (Yasmin - I'm afraid to report she is definitely gorgeous. I resisted the urge to throw my drink at her and mess up her perfect hair), and The Spice Girls and Hanson - only seen because my company's building is across the road from Radio One (which, for the vast majority of you not in England, is where all the hip and funky bands go to be on the radio and promote their latest chart-topper). This does not constitute a very good batting average.

However, a friend my mine spied Kate Moss a year or so ago in the local petrol station, where she was reportedly buying three packets of Super Plus Tampax. This could perhaps explain why she looks pinced and drawn occasionally.

-- Anonymous, July 09, 1999

Donna- barring gender, you da man! Twin Peaks was the best show on TV in the history of TV as far as I am concerned. Firewalk With Me is also one of my favorite films ever. Now you know 2!!!

David Lynch is one of the best filmakers of our time! Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart (one of the movies Nic Cage actually ACTED in), Dune (even though he had his name removed from the credits you can still see his signature shots), FWWM, and Lost Highway. I am torn between FWWM and LH. They are both great movies.

The one area I will have to disagree with you is re: Madchen Amick. Girlfriend can act, although I will concede that she was less than spectacular in the TP series, but I think that had more to do with the character than her acting skills. I think she played a great beaten-down-girlfriend-of-a-drug-dealer-who-is-also-a-waitress. I have seen her in other films where she was brilliant! If you haven't seen Dream Lover (James Spader and Madchen Amick) you need to. Not only is she great, but it's an EXTREMELY good movie. It is definitely in my Top 10 personal favorites. Fantastic ending!

I had the absolute biigest crush on Sherylin Fenn. She was the sexiest woman on the face o the earth then! Being that you are a female and may not have noticed it like I did, there was this scene where she is in the coffee shop. I think it was right after the funeral, she goes to the Jukebox and picks one of these really dark groovy songs and starts dancing by herself, and everyone is staring at her. Wow! I was in love. I wanted to kick Kyles' ass cause she was always trying to get with him and he just blew her off. What a waste.:)

Oh yeah, Gwyneth... see the thing is I think she's kinda has that whole Meryl Streep complex in that she uses accents/dialects that have nothing to do with her character. Ok, Emma I can see, but COME ON already with the British accent! Sheesh! Cate is the shizzit compared to Gwyneth!

-- Anonymous, July 09, 1999

Lindsay--

It's very important that you remember that Kevin Bacon was my boyfriend for about a year when I was ten and this may or may not have been during the time you were married to him and if it was he never told me.

At this point I'm really not interested in him anymore, but the sound of his name does fill me with a little nostalgia for when I lived in North Richland Hills, TX.

And I think the backlash against me has been going on for a little while. There was one site that linked to mine and called it the "most annoying site." I don't know what I did, but somehow three weeks later I was bumped over to the "friends" links section, so I did some Spin without doing anything, you know?

But I do get the occasional hate mail, and you do see other journallers using my name in that way that suggests, "Oh, Fuck ME! I'm sorry I'm not PAMIE! Fine! Don't read my fucking page then!"

You know, that kind of thing.

-- Anonymous, July 09, 1999

donna- someone mentioned Jewel in a "I hate her" type post, and I ran with it. :-) I paired her up with Tori because she tried to be Tori for a while (go watch the "Hands" video closeups..I swore up and down it was a Tori video til the credit thingy popped up). And based on today's posts, Kevin Bacon vs. Ben AND Matt since those 2 share the same brain.

-- Anonymous, July 09, 1999

My friend Jennifer and I get in arguments over music all of the time. The only two bands that we both like are Jethro Tull and Devo. Other than that we have completely different tastes.

For one, I love Sheryl Crow. I'm a big fan. But Jen insists on doing this terrible (but funny) impersonation of her lips when she sings -- you know how she has those pouty lips and the whitest teeth on the planet? She's always making fun of her to get a reaction out of me. I usually just end up pouting and turning to my boyfriend for reassurement that someone else thinks Sheryl is, at the very least, a decent musician and singer.

Not only that, but Jen tends to play a lot of spacey, I'm-tripping music that after awhile, grates on my nerves. Sometimes I just want to stand up and shout at her, "Why don't you play some different kinds of music for a change! Branch out! There is other shit out there besides David Bowie! (not that he isn't great, but would you want to listen to his stuff every time you went to a friend's house?)

-- Anonymous, July 09, 1999

Boy, sometimes I have to take notes while reading all of the other responses so I can remember what I what to say. Well, here goes: -- The Backstreet Boys are original in no way. Nor are any of the other little boy groups. It didn't start with New Kids on the Block, New Edition, or even the Jackson 5. The Castratti were the original boys group- a formulaic configuration of perpetually cute teens that could sing and gave the priests something to play with. -- Saving Private Ryan was pretty good. What actually made the movie for me was seeing an older man in the theater crying. While it didn't move me that much, the fact that it could make this guy cry in the bathroom (I'm assuming that was why he was crying) means it must have at least brought back some pretty strong emotions. However, they (everyone involved in the script) should be shot for actually using the phrase "Saving Private Ryan" in the dialogue. -- Jewel. Well, I used to think that when I was ruler of my own island nation, she would be my queen. That was when I thought she might grow as a songwriter, but after seeing that self-indulgent 'My Hands' crap she was dethroned. Even those of us who think she has a great voice and is second in cuteness only to Meg Ryan and Janine Turner, must admit that her song lyrics are just a little cliched and simple. Her poetry (thanks Pamie!) is unfortunately no better, and standing on a stark page makes it all the more silly ('A Night Without Armor'-get it?).

But that leads me to my main point-- I'm sick of people trying to pretend that others are talented just because they look good. I'll admit, Cameron Diaz ain't that great an actress. Just because I find her attractive doesn't mean I think she's as good an actress as... well, anyone. I can make that distinction. I've gotten in countless arguments with a co-worker (whose general "taste in men" I find an oxymoron) over Keanu Reeves. OK, he's pretty, so put him on a poster. Don't fuck up a perfectly good film adaptation of Shakespeare just to get the teenage girls to go see it. I know Pamie has made this point about confusing attractiveness and talent, but I felt it needed to be repeated.

-- Anonymous, July 12, 1999

Hey chickengrrrl aka liz. Before you bash Brad Pitt, you should check out the latest issue of "W" magazine for the completely outta control gay-porn/girl's porn photo shoot of brad. i only liked him in Thelma'n'Louise and in 12 Monkeys but I have to say he looks damn fine.. his acting skills may be limited, but as long as a director knows what to do with him (judging from these pics, oral sex would be at the top of that list), i wouldn't toss him out. except when he plays mr. death.
Anyway to answer the original question. I usually only play devil's advocate with people who annoy me. especially people who are just mouthing a (usually popular) opinion without having thought about it. I rarely hang out with such people. i don't like playing devil's advocate with people I like. it feels manipulative to me.

-- Anonymous, July 12, 1999

Julia Roberts is sitting high above us mere mortals, laughing. At what, we aren't good enough to know.

-- Anonymous, July 12, 1999

ugh @ keanu. pretty boy, indeed. But c'mon.....did he have to try a southern accent in "the devil's advocate"? Just stand there, baby.

jewel.....well.....i wish she and steve buscemi would be introduced to wonders of orthodontia. ya got the $$ guys, c'mon.

98 degrees....oh man. i swore i would't fall into that trap, but WHOA baby......these boys are hotties, albeit not very tall hotties. i don't listen to that "type" of music, but i broke down and bought their cd.

i could go on and on and on about all the ppl i dislike, but since this is my first time posting here, i'll wrap it up! =)

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999

Hey Andy -- Well, thanks for the input about Brad Pitt. I wasn't intending to bash him. He's OK as an actor (in SOME select roles), but I JUST DON'T GET all the lusty hype about him. I don't find him attractive in even the smallest way.

But I do agree with you about only playing devil's advocate with people who are annoying. It is mean/manipulative to do that to people you like. Although I do admit I have a friend or two whom I love to bait, because I know exactly which buttons to push, and because they rise to the occasion so vehemently and defensively that I find it sickly amusing!

And what did happen to Jewel? Her first album wasn't bad, but she has adopted such an affected attitude -- all the bizarre faux sobbing and hiccoughing she does now, the weird warbly vibrato... She gives me a major rash now.

-- Anonymous, July 14, 1999

I actually liked Brad Pitt's performance in Kalifornia. He does a good job playing dumb, crazy, violent guys.

"Hey, this ain't Lucky Lager"! *SMASH*!!

-- Anonymous, July 14, 1999